1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fabrics, cloth and the like, and more particularly to a novel fabric consisting essentially of fibers derived from plant material, and still more particularly to fabrics consisting of fibers derived from white pine mixed with fibers derived from other plant materials in a proportionate mix where the white pine fiber content is no less than 20% of the mix and the fiber content derived from other plant materials is no more than 80%.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fabrics containing fibers derived from plant materials are well-known. One type of process for producing such yarns is the production of vicose rayon, patterned after the Chardonnet process in which cellulose is first converted to a soluble compound. In this process, developed in 1892 by three British chemists, the cellulose is dissolved to form a viscous liquid known as "vicose". Typically, the process entails soaking raw material in a caustic solution, shredding alkali cellulose into crumbs and mixing the shredded cellulose with a substance such as carbon disulfide to form the viscose, aging the viscose, spinning filament yarn (e.g., by a centrifugal method), winding the spun yarn into cakes or cutting the filaments into short fibers, cleaning the yarn, removing moisture from the yarn and drying it, and then packaging the yarn for shipments to processors, such as weavers, spinners or knitters.
The raw materials for viscose rayon can be cotton linters, the short fibers adhering to the cotton seed, or wood pulp derived from a variety of timber species, including redwood (U.S. Pat. No. 123,810 to Cone), cedar (U.S. Pat. No. 130,171 to Woodley), and southern yellow pine (U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,465 to Cochrane et al. ). In addition, other plant materials have been used to produce yarn for the textile industry, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 39,556 to Dunkin, which teaches the manufacture of textile fabrics using of a mixture of "down", obtained from the inner portions of milkwood seeds, and cotton.
It is also well known to mix fibers derived from plant materials with fibers produced from synthetic materials. U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,564 to Israel et al. teaches the use of a highly absorbent fabric composed of wood pulp and fibers composed of synthetic resins. The wood pulp content of the web material produced in accordance with the process of Cochrane is in the range of from about 50 weight percent to about 75 weight percent. Yet, Cochrane et al. teach that, while the higher levels of wood pulp impart increased absorbency, they also usually result in loss of abrasion resistance and tensile strength.
Against this background, the inventor has discovered a new, highly absorbent, material exhibiting significantly higher absorbency and strength when compared with rayon and similar materials as well as cotton, the new material being comprised of a mixture of fibers derived from white pine wood and other natural, non-synthetic materials.